[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 80 (Wednesday, April 25, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Page 24746]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-9998]
[[Page 24746]]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2010-0158]
Constraint on Releases of Airborne Radioactive Materials to the
Environment for Licensees Other Than Power Reactors
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Regulatory guide; issuance.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing a
revision to Regulatory Guide (RG) 4.20, ``Constraint on Releases of
Airborne Radioactive Materials to the Environment for Licensees other
than Power Reactors.'' This RG provides guidance on methods acceptable
to the NRC's staff for meeting the constraint on airborne emissions of
radioactive material to the environment.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2010-0158 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You
may access information related to this document, which the NRC
possesses and is publicly available, using the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2010-0158. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-492-
3668; email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov.
NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may access publicly available documents online in the NRC
Library at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the
search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and then select ``Begin Web-
based ADAMS Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC's
Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-
4737, or by email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. The ADAMS accession number
for each document referenced in this notice (if that document is
available in ADAMS) is provided the first time that a document is
referenced. Revision 1 of RG 4.20 is available in ADAMS under Accession
No. ML110120299. The regulatory analysis may be found in ADAMS under
Accession No. ML110120351.
NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not
required to reproduce them.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mekonen Bayssie, Regulatory Guide
Development Branch, Division of Engineering, Office of Nuclear
Regulatory Research, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001, telephone: 301-251-7489; email: Mekonen.Bayssie@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The NRC is issuing a revision to an existing guide in the NRC's
``Regulatory Guide'' series. This series was developed to describe and
make available to the public information such as methods that are
acceptable to the NRC staff for implementing specific parts of the
agency's regulations, techniques that the staff uses in evaluating
specific problems or postulated accidents, and data that the staff
needs in its review of applications for permits and licenses.
Revision 1 of RG 4.20 was issued with a temporary identification as
Draft Regulatory Guide (DG)-4018. This RG provides guidance on methods
acceptable to the NRC staff for meeting the constraint on airborne
emissions of radioactive material to the environment as described in
Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 20.1101(d). In
1996, the NRC added a constraint to 10 CFR part 20, ``Standards for
Protection Against Radiation,'' to remove dual regulation by the NRC
and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and to provide an ``ample
margin of safety'' to members of the public from airborne emissions of
radioactive material to the environment.
In 10 CFR 20.1101(d), the NRC states the following:
To implement the ALARA (as low as is reasonably achievable)
requirements of Sec. 20.1101(b), and notwithstanding the
requirements in Sec. 20.1301 of this part, a constraint on air
emissions of radioactive material to the environment, excluding
radon-222 and its daughters, shall be established by licensees other
than those subject to Sec. 50.34a, such that the individual member
of the public likely to receive the highest dose will not be
expected to receive a total effective dose equivalent in excess of
10 mrem [millirem] (0.1 mSv [millisievert]) per year from these
emissions. If a licensee subject to this requirement exceeds this
dose constraint, the licensee shall report the exceedance as
provided in Sec. 20.2203 and promptly take appropriate corrective
action to ensure against recurrence.
The NRC staff examines licensee programs to determine whether they
comply with the requirements in 10 CFR part 20. This guide addresses
only a part of a licensee's overall radiation protection program.
Specifically, it addresses methods that licensees can use to
demonstrate that they meet the constraint on airborne emissions of
radioactive material to the environment. In addition to controlling
doses from airborne emissions of radioactive material to the
environment, licensees must implement a radiation protection program
that controls liquid effluents and dose rates in unrestricted areas.
II. Further Information
On April 20, 2010 (75 FR 20645), DG-4018 was published in the
Federal Register and it was reopened for a 60-day public comment period
on June 25, 2010 (75 FR 36445). The public comment period closed on
August 23, 2010. The Federal Register notice (FRN) dated June 25, 2010
(75 FR 36445), inadvertently cited the ADAMS accession number for the
original FRN noticing the issuance of DG-4018 (75 FR 20645; ADAMS
Accession No. ML092600090) in place of the ADAMS accession number for
DG-4018 (ADAMS Accession No. ML092590180). However, the original FRN
noticing the issuance of DG-4018 (75 FR 20645; ADAMS Accession No.
ML092600090) cited the correct ADAMS accession number for DG-4018.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 17th day of April, 2012.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Mark Orr,
Acting Chief, Regulatory Guide Development Branch, Division of
Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2012-9998 Filed 4-24-12; 8:45 am]
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